Rotary compressor with integrally connected, diametrically aligned vanes

ABSTRACT

In a compressor of a movable vane type comprising a cylinder, a hollow rotor eccentrically positioned within the cylinders bore and arranged so as to be always inscribed with the cylinder bore surface on a fixed inscribing line and movable vane means radially positioned in the rotor so as to be always slidably contacted with the cylinder bore surface, said movable vane means comprises one vane of plate shape diametrally passed through and slidably supported by the rotor, said cylinder bore is defined by combination of an arc portion with one of the specified peripheral curve portions logically derived or only by the specified closed curve logically derived so that said vane, during rotation of the rotor, is always slidably contacted at its outer ends with the cylinder bore surface without being radially reciprocated; and oil reservoirs communicating to a lubricating system provided within central recesses on valve and side plates forming ends of the cylinder bore by end portions of vane slots formed on the rotor at diametrally opposite side so as to sufficiently lubricate all parts in the cylinder bore.

United States Patent n91 Komiya et al.

[ 1 Apr. 15, 1975 l l ROTARY COMPRESSOR WITH INTEGRALLY CONNECTED.DIAMETRICALLY ALIGNED VANES [76] Inventors: Sanpei Komiya. l745-l OhazaShimo-koizumi. Ohizumi-muchi; 'lukeo Salta. l926-3 Ohaza Shlnozuka,Ohru-maehl. both oi Ohra-gun. Gumma-ken. Japan [22] Filed: Feb. 4, i974[2i] Appl. No.: 439.281

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Feb. 16. i973 Japan 4848372 Mar.l. i973 Japan 48-23687 May 22. I973 Japan 48-59469 [52] US. Cl. 318/76;418/77; 4l8/88;

[51] Int. Cl...... F0lc 21/04; F04c 29/02; F0lc 1/00 [58] Field ofSearch 4l8/76, 77, 88, 148, I50, 418/255. 97, 99, 9i

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS I07 I .145 8/1913 Durlington4l8/255 l.78l.073 ll/l930 Nielsen 418/255 l,952.834 3/1934 Beidlcr etal. 418/255 2.278.740 4/l942 Roesslcr 4l8/l50 2.463.360 Dawson 4l8/l482.585.406 2/l952 Reynolds 8/255 3.480.204 ll/l969 Harlin 4l8/993.499.600 3ll970 McGrcgor 4l8/255 Primary Examiner-John J. Vrablik IAttorney. Agent. or Firm-Mason. Fcnwick & Lawrence 571 7 ABSTRACT In acompressor of a movable vane type comprising a cylinder, a hollow rotor,eccentrically positioned within the cylinders bore and arranged so asto be always inscribed with the cylinder bore surface on a fixedinscribing line and movable vane means radially positioned in the rotorso as to be always slidably contacted with the cylinder bore surface,said movable vane means comprises one vane of plate shape diametrallypassed through and slidably supported by the rotor, said cylinder boreis defined by combination of an arc portion with one of the specifiedperipheral curve I portions logically derived or only by the specifiedclosed curve logically derived so that said vane. during rotation of therotor. is always slidably contacted at its outer ends with the cylinderbore surface without being radially reciprocated; and oil reservoirscommunicating to a lubricating system provided within central recesseson valve and side plates forming ends of the cylinder bore by endportions of vane slots formed on the rotor at diamctrally opposite sideso as to suffi ciently lubricate all parts in the cylinder bore.

2 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures PATENTEDAPR 1 SIHTS SHEET 2 PATENTEDAPR 1 5ms SHEET 3 i ROTARY COMPRESSOR WITH INTEGRALLY CONNECTED. DIAMETRICALLYALIGNED VANES The subject invention is directed to a rotary compressorhaving a one-piece vane mounted in a cylinder having a bore of any oneof known cross-sectional shapes specially devised for such one-piecevanes. A hollow rotor is eccentrically located within the cylinder boreand includes two diametrically opposed slots for slid ably receiving theintegral vane. A valve plate including outlet valves and a side plateare respcctivaly located on opposite ends ofthc rotor and an oil pumpfor circulating lubricating oil is also provided in the housing of thecompressor.

Such a compressor. if its rotor is reversely rotated. can be directlyused as a vacuum pump as it is. There fore a compressorT in thedescription ofthe invention and the appended claims comprehends a vacuumpump.

in the conventional compressor with the one-piece vane mentioned above.lubrication of all parts within the cylinder bore is effected solely bylubricating oil jetted into the cylinder bore or on the ends of therotor through oil ports or passages. The lubricating oil is trapped andentrained by a small space formed between the outer end of each vane anda vane slot formed in the rotor when said outer end arrives at or nearits inner extent'of movement. in such a lubricating system. thelubricant does not rcach'all'parts in adequate quantities when the rotoris rotated at higher speeds in the range of 4.000 6.000 r.p.m. as inautomobile. air conditioner compressors which are subjected to a widerange of rotational speeds.

Therefore. a first object of the invention is to provide a rotarycompressor having a unitary vane and new and improved lubrication means.

Another problem with prior known compressors using solid rotors arisesfrom the necessity of having closely and smoothly slidable contactbetween the vane and the vane slot. it is costly and difficult toprecisely finish the required slot in the solid rotor and machining ofthe slot having the exact same length as the breadth ofthe vane is alsodifficult to accomplish and expensive in cost.

A second object of the invention is to provide compressor means notrequiring difficult and expensive machining for formation.

in order to achieve the first and second objects, the preferredembodiment of the invention is directed to a rotary compressor with avane of one piece including a cylinder having a bore of any one of knowncrosssectional shapes specially designed for such a one-piece vane. Ahollow rotor is eccentrically located within the cylinder bore so as tobe rotated on a fixed axis and is provided with two dimatricaily opposedslots for slidably receiving the vane which extends through the rotor.Valve and slide plates are located on opposite ends of the rotorrespectively and an oil pump is provided for circulating oil in thecompressor. The rotor is provided with an internal cavity of perfectlycircular crosssectional shape. said slots on the rotor are formed overthe entire axial length of the rotor so as to open into said cavityexcept for end portions of the slots extending on ends of the rotor. Thevalve and side plates are provided with central cylindrical recesses forreceiving the ends of the rotor and oil openings open into the centralcylindrical recesses adjacent the outer peripheral wall of the openingto define oil reservoirs within the central recesses. The end of theslots pass through said reservoirs during each rotation of the rotor.

in order to more clearly understand the invention. its preferableembodiment is now described in more detail with reference toaccompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of the rotary compressoraccording to the invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 2-2 in FIG. I.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 3-3 in FK. l:

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the rotor; and

FIG. 5 is a perspective view ofan assembly of the rotor. the vane andthe valve plate showing the important features of the invention with apart of the valve plate broken off for clarity.

In FIGS. 1. 2 and 3. 1 indicates a cylinder. 3 a front cylinder head. 5a rear cylinder head. 7 a valve plate. 9 a drive shaft. ll movable vanemeans. 13 a side plate. 15 a seal assembly. 17 an oil pump. 19 aconnector for sucking gas (e.g.. a refrigerating medium) into thecompressor (a discharge connector is not shown). 21 and 21' indicate lowpressure gas channels respectively. 23 indicates a high pressure gaschannel. 25 an oil pan. 27 and 27 indicate outlet valves and 29indicates a hollow rotor bodily formed with the drive shaft 9. Further43, 45 and 47 indicate oil channels leading from the oil pan 25 to theoil pump 17 openings 49. 5t and 53 are oil channels leading from the oilpump 17 to contacting surfaces between the cylinder bore and the rotor29 and to the seal assembly 15. Member 55 indicates a return oil channelleading from the seal assembly 15 to the oil pan 25.

As shown in H68. 3 and 4, the hollow rotor 29 has a cavity 39 across-sectional shape of which is circular. The cavity 39 is formed by asuitable tool through a driving aperture 65 provided on the drive shaft9 for a drive pin 63 of the oil pump 17 (see FIG. 1). The hoilow rotor39 is provided with two diametrically opposed vane slots 35 which extendover the entire axial length of the rotor and open into the cavity 39except for the end wall portions of the slots. Thus. the vane slots 35may be very precisely finished by a broach simultaneously passingthrough them. As shown in FIG. I, the valve and side plates 7 and 13 arerespectively provided with central recesses 41 and 41 of cylindricalshape for receiving the ends of the rotor 29 and oil openings 61 and 61for supplying the lubricating oil by the oil pump 17 through the oilchannels 51 and 53 into oil reservoirs 57 and 57' as described later onwith reference to FIG. 5. The oil openings 61 and 61' are preferablylocated near the fixed inscribing line. but may be located in anyposition other than said line provided that said oil openings areconnected to any one of the oil channels. The outer edge of vane itincludes two elongated seal apexes 31 of small mass which extend axiallyof the cylinder and contact the surface 10 of the cylinder bore. Eachapex 31 is telescopically seated in each slot 37 formed axially of thecylinder on the outer ends of the vane and urged toward the cylinderbore surface in by a relatively weak spring 33 located on the bottom ofeach slot 37 and also compensating wear of the seal apex. Alternatively.said seal apexes may be urged by hydraulic means (not shown) in lieuofsprings Referring to FIG. 5. there is shown. in more detail. theimportant feature according to the invention. ln order to clarify thisfigure. the side plate I3 is omitted from FIG. 5'. however. itsconstruction is substantially the same as that of the valve plate 7.

When one end ofthe rotor is assembled in the central recess 41. it willbe seen that small spaces. i.c.. two dia metrically opposed oilreservoirs 57 (only one of them is shown) are defined within the centralrecess 4 l. adjacent to the peripheral side wall 42 thereof. by the rearend surface l2 ofthe vane and the rear end portions 36 (only one of themis shown) of the slots extending on the rear end of the rotor and notopened into the cavity 39.

when the rotor is rotated. each reservoir 57 is displaced along theperipheral side wall 42 and fed with the lubricating oil through the oilopening 6i provided on the valve plate 7. when said oil opening opensinto and communicates with the oil reservoir 57. during each rotation ofthe rotor as the reservoir 57 moves past opening 61. Correspondingreservoirs 57 are provided on the opposite end of the rotor forcommunication with opening 61' once during each revolution of the rotor.

The invention has substantial advantages over the prior known devices inthat the oil reservoirs 57 and 57' are rotated with the rotor so thateffective lubrication of all parts is achieved. For example. contactingsurfaces between the valve and side plates with the ends ofthe rotor.the vane and said plates and the slots in the rotor and said vane. andthe slots for the seal apexes 31. as well as contacting surfaces betweenthe rotor and the cylinder bore on the fixed inscribing line and saidbore and the outer ends ofthe vane. are all effectively lubricated.

Since the hollow rotor has a perfectly circular crosssectional cavity39. the precise machining of the slots for the vane is very easilycompleted as compared with the difficult machining required for a solidrotor; moreover. the present invention largely avoids the risk of staticand dynamic unbalance of the rotor itself.

Moreover. since the slots for the vane are machined over the entireaxial length of the rotor. their machining is also easy to accomplish ascompared with the conventional slots having the same exact length as thebreadth of the vane. i.c.. not extending over the entire axial length ofthe rotor.

What is claimed is:

l. A rotary compressor comprising. a unitary onepiece vane. a cylinderhaving a bore. a hollow rotor eccentrically mounted for rotation withinsaid cylinder bore including two diametrically opposed slots. said vanebeing slidably received in said slots. a valve plate and a side platerespectively mounted on opposite ends of the cylinder adjacent oppositeends of the rotor. an

- oil pump for circulating lubricating oil in the compreswardly facingcentral cylindrical recesses defined by an end wall and a peripheralcylindrical wall which recesses matingly receive the opposite ends ofthe rotor and oil injection openings connected to conduit meansextending from said oil pump and extending into said central recessesadjacent the peripheral walls thereof whereby oil reservoirs are whollycontained within said central recesses. said oil reservoirs beingdefined by the peripheral wall of the recess. end surface of the vane.and side and bottom walls of said slots so that said reservoirs areplaced in communication with said oil injec tion openings once duringeach revolution of said rotor to effect the supply of oil into the oilreservoirs by the oil pump.

2. The invention ofclaim I wherein said hollow internal cavity is ofcircular cross-sectional shape.

I. l i i

1. A rotary compressor comprising, a unitary one-piece vane, a cylinderhaving a bore, a hollow rotor eccentrically mounted for rotation withinsaid cylinder bore including two diametrically opposed slots, said vanebeing slidably received in said slots, a valve plate and a side platerespectively mounted on opposite ends of the cylinder adjacent oppositeends of the rotor, an oil pump for circulating lubricating oil in thecompressor, wherein said rotor includes a hollow internal cavity, saiddiametrically opposed slots of the rotor are formed over the entireaxial length of the rotor so as to open into said cavity except for endportions of the slots, and said valve and side plates each includeinwardly facing central cylindrical receSses defined by an end wall anda peripheral cylindrical wall which recesses matingly receive theopposite ends of the rotor and oil injection openings connected toconduit means extending from said oil pump and extending into saidcentral recesses adjacent the peripheral walls thereof whereby oilreservoirs are wholly contained within said central recesses, said oilreservoirs being defined by the peripheral wall of the recess, endsurface of the vane, and side and bottom walls of said slots so thatsaid reservoirs are placed in communication with said oil injectionopenings once during each revolution of said rotor to effect the supplyof oil into the oil reservoirs by the oil pump.
 2. The invention ofclaim 1 wherein said hollow internal cavity is of circularcross-sectional shape.